48. Evil Under The Sun

Air date: 20/04/2001
Published: 1941

One of the classic plot devices used in whodunnits is the confusion of time. Time is, of course, a vital ingredient in all whodunnits: it makes or breaks alibis. That's why, particularly in more contemporary stories, clever pathologists are wheeled-on for their five minutes of action, to determine parameters of time during which the dastardly deed could have been committed.

The confusion of time involves the culprit attempting to do just that: to confuse those trying to piece together the sequence of events. In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd various props are deployed to make it appear the victim was still alive when, in fact, he was already dead. That's how it is usually done.

In Evil Under The Sun Agatha Christie cleverly turns that technique on its head: the victim is made to appear dead - when, in point of fact, she is still alive!

The story begins with Poirot holidaying at the Jolly Roger Hotel, on a small island somewhere off the coast of southern England. The island is accessed by a walkway at low tide; otherwise by rowing boat. We are quickly introduced to Mrs Gardener, a talkative American, and her husband Odell (whose main role in life seems to be to respond "Yes, darling" at appropriate moments); the athletic Miss Emily Brewster; boring army in India veteran Major Barry; the Revd. Stephen Lane, and the seemingly frail Christine Redfern (married to Patrick), who has no head for heights and no appetite for the sun. A grand entrance is then made by actress Arlene Stuart, who appears to flirt somewhat brazenly with Patrick. Later we meet Arlene's retiring husband Kenneth Marshall, his 16-year-old daughter (by a previous marriage) Linda, and dress designer Rosamund Darnley, an old friend of Marshall's. Sailor Horace Blatt makes up the list of suspects.

The tension mounts with the Redferns at loggerheads over Arlene Stuart. The central sequence of events involves Arlene taking a boat round the island to Pixy Cove. Redfern later takes Miss Brewster rowing and they find the actress, apparently strangled. Redfern stays with the body while Miss Brewster rows away to get help. At the time, Christine Redfern was sketching on the other side of the island with Linda; the Gardeners were with Poirot; the vicar was on the mainland; and Kenneth Marshall was typing business letters in his room. A red herring sub-plot involves a cave at Pixy Cove being used to smuggle drugs into the country (was Arlene 'silenced' by drug runners when she stumbled upon their activities?).

Poirot eventually unravels an incredibly elaborate plan. Christine had altered Linda's wristwatch while the latter was swimming, to enable her to leave for tennis earlier than it seemed. She had skitted across to Pixy Cove, causing Arlene to hide in the narrow, obscured cave, and had then pretended to be Arlene - face down and dead on the beach - in time for Redfern and Miss Brewster to find her (masked by her large, Chinese hat). Once Miss Brewster was out of sight, Christine headed off for the hotel, and Redfern had attacked and killed Arlene.

In the finale Poirot seems to focus on Linda and her father as likely culprits, before suddenly confronting Redfern. There is then (post arrest of the Redferns) an extended conclusion, with Poirot explaining it all to some of the guests - along with the fact that the Redferns had pulled the 'confusion of time' scam in the past. Motive? Money. While throughout the story Arlene Stuart appears to everyone as a voracious man-eater, Poirot, rather touchingly, sees it the other way round: she is someone who is apt to fall for the kind of men who prey on rich women for their money (this aspect comes out in the TV production finale, too).

Evil Under the Sun is perhaps one of Agatha Christie's better known stories. I confess that I watched the Peter Ustinov film version (1982) before I had ever read the book, and so, inevitably, find myself making a three-way comparison at this point. The film version removed the setting to a more exotic island in the Adriatic. Major Barry and the Revd. Stephen Lane are omitted, as is Rosamund Darnley - her past link with Kenneth Marshall now being transferred to hotel owner Mrs Castle (who has a more prominent role). Emily Brewster has become acerbic writer Rex Brewster. As a result, it is Mrs Gardener who accompanies Redfern on the carefully planned rowing trip when Arlene is found on the beach. Two other families, the Cowans and the Mastersons, are omitted from both film and TV production. However, they don't really feature in Agatha Christie's original; they are simply referred to, presumably to create the (justifiable) impression that the hotel has more guests than our main suspects! Linda appears younger and has less of a role - although at one point she does try to implicate Brewster, who she clearly doesn't like.

Agatha Christie's Poirot is more faithful to the character line-up, with two exceptions. Linda Marshall becomes, inexplicably, 17-year-old Lional Marshall, with an interest in poisons. Also, the Gardeners are omitted, which is a shame, because they provide the story with some light-hearted moments, and, to my mind, the TV version is a little flat.

As I have commented on previously, the short stories - which are sometimes very short - need embellishing to fill out 50 minutes of TV time. With the novels, however, it tends to be the other way round: detail has to be condensed (not many of us can read a novel in less than 100 minutes). Therefore, I found it odd that the TV production begins with a lengthy, and rather unnecessary piece about Poirot dining at a new Argentinian restaurant, which has been funded by none other than Captain Hastings! When Poirot faints during the evening he is diagnosed as obese and in need of exercise: paving the way for him being packed off by Miss Lemon to Sandy Cove Hotel (as it is now called) for some rest and exercise. Hastings, naturally, joins him. The production is set at the real Burgh Island, off the coast of Devon, with the real sea tractor ferry (which is used at high tide) being deployed. The low-tide walk-way is not really mentioned. The restaurant opening leads to one of those light-hearted closing scenes so often seen in the short story productions. It turns out that Poirot was suffering from food poisoning - and Hastings' restaurant has been closed down in his absence!

Chief Inspector Japp replaces both Chief Constable Col. Weston and Insp. Colgate from the original story, which meant the full 'team' were together (for the final time, as it would turn out, prior to the brief reunion in the last series).

The opening scenes also feature the inquest of Alice Corrigan (the Redferns' previous victim). This is attended by the Revd. Stephen Lane, whose character and obsession with evil are made considerably more intense for TV.

The drug-running sub-plot - omitted altogether in the film - becomes, if anything, more prominent for TV. Two characters who pick up the drugs (referred to very briefly as restaurant diners in the book) are now bird watchers. One pulls a gun on Japp and Hastings, who are saved in the nick of time by Major Barry - now revealed to be a Home Office man seconded to Scotland Yard, who has been tracking the drug-running for some months. Horace Blatt is arrested as the importer of the drugs.